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Review Uploaded
09/13/02

Frank's film tip: Someone needs to serve "Sara" with a restraining order by keeping her away from movie theaters situated across the country and beyond

There are some American comedies that continue to amaze moviegoers in terms of how willing they are to lower the bar to the common lowest denominator. The sensibility being that, of course, the crassness and stupidity of the same old smirky high jinks is something to behold in the world of mainstream Hollywood hilarity. In the excruciatingly numb and mindless romantic comedy "Serving Sara", we are privvy to pretty much the inane familiar fluff that is typical of a hysterically pointless gagfest.

Director Reginald Hudlin ("The Ladies Man", "House Party") serves up this contrivance without once opting to incorporate any unique or freshly-made slapstick to spark the so-called "hipness" that this film desperately tries to pull off in vain fashion. When a crude comedy resorts to having its main star shove his arm up a bull's rectum for cheap easy laughs, then you know you've reached the pinnacle of this movie's creative potential. And believe me, that's NOT saying too much as far as a compliment is concerned! "Serving Sara" is ridiculously uneven, crushingly half-baked and a quasi-comedy that is a myopic miscalculation in every sense of the word.

Matthew Perry (from the long-running NBC hit sitcom "Friends") has the dubious task of starring in yet another insufferable farce that doesn't capitalize enough on his comedic talents (remember such oldies but goodies as "The Whole Nine Yards"? "Three to Tango"? "Almost Heroes"?). Perry plays Joe Tyler, a put-upon process server whose duty is to serve divorce papers to a shapely trophy wife named Sara Moore (Eizabeth Hurley). Sara is married to a two-timing Texas tomcat (Bruce Campbell). So when Joe finally catches up with Sara and eventually befriends her, the curvy galpal convinces the befuddled server to turn the tables and serve the papers on her cheating spouse instead. And what's Joe's incentive for doing this besides his obvious affection for the scheming Sara? Well, the twosome could definitely take advantage of the potential financial settlement should the divorce proceedings favor the boisterous beauty.

Soon, the whole picture becomes quit complicated because of Joe's decision to align himself with Sara therefore jeopardizing his job. For starters, this puts Joe at constant odds with his boss Ray (Cedric the Entertainer) who inevitably fills the cliched' role as the exasperated black superior who's fed up with the antics of his charge (gee, how original, huh?). Ray then tries to set Joe straight by throwing into the mix another process server predictably named Tony (Vincent Pastore from "The Sopranos") so that he can finish up where the defiant Joe left off--the intent of serving Sara! And as if Joe isn't already up to his kness in conflict, he and Sara find themselves on the run in a cross-country chase that includes eluding the pesky Tony, dodging moody mobsters, and posing as veterinarians where Joe gets to intimately "acquaint" himself with a impotent bull's rear end (didn't the annoying Tom Green already explore this sluggish cow-anal bit in the flavorless "Freddy Got Fingered" already?).

"Serving Sara" does have the characteristics of a wayward screwball comedy that entails having everything go awry just for the sake of the mishaps taking place. But just because screwball comedies are erratic in concept doesn't mean that they have to be woefully cobbled together with colossally dumbed-down triteness. The screenplay by Jay Scherick and David Ronn is convincingly turgid and lackluster. And Hudlin's direction of this vapid vehicle has all the humorous heating of an unlit candle. One wouldn't mind the riotous crude scenes if they were remotely original and boldly conceived. What the filmmakers needed to do was serve "Sara" with some lofty laughs. This is one road trip movie that urgently required a compass of creativity to find the appeal behind this rancid romp.

It's a shame that Perry continuously gets bogged down with undesirable big screen piffle that doesn't match his savvy wit that he effortlessly engages in so well on the boob tube each and every week. If his movie career is destined for more dogs such as "Serving Sara", then he better talk his "Friends" co-stars into returning for another profitable season of his highly-touted TV show. As for Hurley, she plays the title role of Sara with curious indifference. Other than noticing how the madcap movie wants to exploit the bodily dimensions of Ms. Hurley's fleshy assets, she's as useful in this farce as an air conditioner inside an igloo during a major snowstorm! There's nothing here that the main leads or supporting players can do to serve "Sara" her just desserts.

Now, as I was saying about some American comedies and their insistence on dabbling in ominous mediocrity...ah, the heck with it...watching "Serving Sara" with noted soberness is self-explanatory enough to bring the point home--that's for darn sure!

Frank rates this film: stars